HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 06-14-2001-4d
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: June 14, 2001
Action Agenda
Item No. •~
SUBJECT: Authorization to Pursue RFP for Acquisition of Business System Software and
Extend Technical Services Contract with Summit Business Solutions, Inc.
DEPARTMENT: Budget, Finance, IS, PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No
Personnel and Purchasing
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Donna Dean, Ken Chavious, Dick
Needs Assessment (Attachment #1) Taylor, Elaine Holmes, Rod Visser,
(Under separate cover) Pam Jones
Detail of General Ledger screen
(Attachment #2) TELEPHONE NUMBERS:
ITC Memo (Attachment #3) Hillsborough 732-8181
Chapel Hill 968-0501
(Continued from June 5, 2001 BOCC Durham 688-7331
Meeting) Mebane 336-227-2031
PURPOSE: To consider authorizing staff to solicit Requests for Proposals for the acquisition of
a business system software package; and authorize an extension of the existing contract with
Summit Business Systems to assist in the solicitation and selection process:
BACKGROUND: In February 2000, the Board approved a contract with a division of RSM
McGladdrey (now Summit Business Systems) to conduct a needs assessment that would
support the acquisition of a new business system software package. The current software
package has been used by the County for over 20 years and is severely limited in its ability to
manage data. The County's need for practical management information has far surpassed the
capability of the software.
The consultant worked extensively with Department Heads and staff who use the system on a
day to day basis to identify system shortfalls and prioritize necessary components within a new
system. The attached needs assessment identifies five specific areas in which deficiencies are
noted:
1. Lack of system integration .
2. Antiquated technology
3. Missing functionality
4. Insufficient reporting capabilities
5. Batch processing
A synopsis of the associated issues is provided below, however, a detailed analysis is included
in the attached Needs Assessment (Attachment #1, under separate cover).
a
2
Lack of Sy~tem_Integration
The business system covers these functions of General Ledger.
• .Accounts Payable
• Payroll
• Purchasing ,
• Budgeting
• Personnel
• Fixed Assets
These functions intersect at several points throughout the various business processes. Far
example, information to make purchases for departments must be keyed at the department
level, re-keyed in the Purchasing Department and then keyed again at time of payment by the
department. Continually keying identical information into different applications of the current
software wastes valuable worker time as well as provides multiple opportunities for error.
Similar examples of duplication of effort occur in the Budgeting system and the Personnel
function as well.
A new business system software would support a common database that allows different
applications access to the same information, within certain security parameters. This would
eliminate the need to maintain identical information in separate systems and would eliminate
duplication of effort in a number of applications.
An#iquated Software
The current business system software has received numerous patches since its development in
late 1970's in order to keep it somewhat effective in the basic operations. However, the system
is outdated, inflexible, inefFicient and is extremely limited in the capabilities that are widely
available in can-ent software packages that take advantage of the tremendous advances in
technology over the past 15-20 years.
Missinq„Functionalty
Limitations in the legacy system have prompted the development of alternative applications
outside of the legacy system. For example, the creation and maintenance of the County's
budget is performed through a complex application using Excel spreadsheets, pivot tables and
Microsoft Word. This method was necessitated over a decade ago due to, but not limited to,
the system's inability to track multiple years' expenditures and present the information in an
understandable format.
Further, anew standard of the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB 34), requires,
among other things, the County to depreciate all fixed assets beginning in FY 2002-2003. The
fixed asset program within the legacy system was abandoned several years ago in favor of a
system of'Excel spreadsheets that would allow easier manipulation of data and report
formulation. While this allows more flexibility and accuracy of the reporting, it does require
substantially more labor since items must be manually keyed into the system rather than the
data automatically integrated when the item is purchased.
Other areas of missing functionality are being offset by manual processes. For example, the
lack of employee history requires manual file research to gather necessary data ar manual
adjustments to automated reports to provide complete data.
Insufficient Reportin4 Capabilities
The legacy system software reporting of revenues and expenditures is inflexible and inefficient.
There are no opportunities to create specialized reports since the report formulation requires
manual intervention from a programmer. The data presented is not user friendly (An example
of the detailed expenditure screen on the current software is included as Attachment 2.)
Further, the software is limited to regurgitation of data. Any analysis of data must be
accomplished by another means.
Capabilities in newer technology applications would allow departments to create their own
reports based on their specific information need: This would significantly reduce the amount of
time spent by some internal services departments (Budget, Finance, Personnel, Purchasing)
who constantly provide information to departments on a variety of issues (E.G. payments made
to vendors, status of purchase orders, status of budget amendments, status of personnel
actions, etc.).
Bafich_Processiin4
Work is pasted to the General Ledger at this time using a batch processing method. For,
example, at the end of the day purchase order; that have been encumbered or bills that have
been paid will be "posted". It is only after a batch has been posted that they are reflected in an
account. As a result of batch processing, the balances reflecked on the General Ledger screen
are likely to be inaccurate most, of the time. This becomes particularly problematic toward the
end of a.fiscal year when funds may become limited.
Proaosed Action
The Needs Assessment is clear in its recommendation that the legacy software should be
replaced. The IT Committee has also endorsed the replacement of the business system
software. The course of action recommended by Summit Business Solutions (SBS) is as
follows:
• Solicit a Request for Proposal pursuant to the Needs Assessment;
• Analyze the options, cost, benefits and risks for each of the systems proposed;
• Utilize life-cycle costing methodology to_ determine the best long term option for the
County;
• Select a recommended vendor for County Commissioner consideration;
• Negotiate a contract with the recommended vendor;
• Develop an implementation plan.
Because of the complexity of issues associated with acquisition of large package software, it is
recommended that the County extend the existing contract with Summit Business Solutions to
include the steps mentioned above. SBS has a demonstrated working knowledge of a number
of governmental software packages being used by North Carolina counties. This is a critical
component in determining a final package and implementation cost and in successful contract
negotiation. SBS also has detailed knowledge of the County's software needs and
requirements developed in the course of the needs assessment.
Should the Board endorse the plan of action, Requests for Proposals would likely be solicited in
fall 2001, with recommendation for acquisition presented for Board consideration in early 2002.
Financial package components will be brought on line first within an anticipated 12-18 month
time period after award of a contract. Other components such as Human Resources may
extend full implementation by an additional six months, thereby making total system
implementation complete within approximately 24 months.
4
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The estimated cost of Summit Business Solutions technical assistance
contract is in the range of $25,000 to $30,000. Funding for this phase of technical assistance is
available in the 2000-2001 Capital Investment Plan.
Although the cost to purchase and install business system software cannot be determined until
the entire evaluation and selection process is carried out, it~ is reasonable to expect that it will be
measured in hundreds of thousands of dollars. Funding for business system legacy software
replacement has been programmed aver a period of several years beginning in the 1999-2009
CIP.
RECOMMENDATION: The Manager recommends that the Board:
1. Authorize the Purchasing Director to carry out the solicitation of Requests for Proposal to
acquire business system software for the County; and
2. Extend the contract with Summit Business Solutions through the selection process at a cost
not to exceed $30,000; and
3. Authorize the Purchasing Director to execute the associated paperwork.
Attachment 2
2000--2001 104852201 PROF CONTRACT SERVICES CUR BAL= 59427.83 5
DATE DEBIT GREDIT REFERENCE DESGRIPTION
07/01/00 -225000.00 CB TO POST CURRENT BUDGET
07/01/00 4900.00 BAL.FWD ENCUMBRANGE CARRY OVER
07/01/00 -4900.00 ENC.BUD ENCUMBRANGE CARRY OVER
08/15/00 65500.00 39555 ENC DELOTTTE & TOUCHE LLP
07/01/00 9000.00 255126 DMG MAXIMUS
08/08/00 15000.00 255127 DELOITTE & TOUGHE LLP
08/04/0.0 960.00 98775 BROUGH,MICHAEL B
07/31/00 2500.00- 98$07 CTL ENGINEERING INC
08/31/00 17500.00 255342 DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
09/20/00 1629.00 39839 ENG QUANTUM ENVIROMNENTAL INC
09/30/00 14088.57 J-169 JULY LEGAL BILLS
09/08/00 450.00 98849 BROUGH-,NlICHAEL $
07/31/00 --2500.00 38989 LIQ GTL ENGINEERING INC
08/08/00 -15000.00 39555 LIQ DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
08/31/00 -17500.00 39555 LIQ DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
09/29/00 -17000.00 39555 LIQ DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
09/29/00 17000.00 - 255675 DELOI'TTE & TOUCHE LLP
10/26/00 520.00 40145 ENC QUANTUM ENVIROMNENTAL INC
HIT RETURN TO CONTINUE...=
- ~~
Pam Janes - Bizs s
From: Joel Dunn ~joel_dunn@unc.edu~
To: Dick Taylor ~DTAYLOR@co.arange.nc.us~
Date: 5/29/01 9:50PM
$ubjeCt: BIZSy5 ~ ,
**ww+~w***wwwww+wwwww*+r+~,r*.+~-re*w
Since its formation, the ITC has felt that the County should evaluate
its core business systems and look to replace current systems with new
solutions that would provide better operational flexibility and improved
integration with other core information technology systems. The ITC has
been closely involved .with the recently completed business systems
. assessment and we support moving forward to create a request for
proposal (RFP). It is important to keep focusad on the infiormation
technologygoals and business goals of the county; the committee has
worked with county IT staff to develop an Information Technology
Architecture that helps to keep potential solutions within the the set
of County-supported technologies. Add to this the overarching direction
provided by the County's IT Strategic Plan and the ITC believes that we.
have the technological framework to complement the business information
provided by the assessment. The ITC wishes the Commissioners to know
that it is supportive of.the proposed RFP and will remain actively
involved in review of this proposed RFF'.
ww++r*wwwwww**~r,r*+rw,rwwwwwwwwww '
+ Joel Dunn
+ jael~dunn@unc.edu
CC: Rod Visser ~RVISSER(c~co.orange.nc.us~
Attachment #1: Item 9-f; June 5, 2001 agend
Needs Assessment Business System Softu
^
4480 Cax Road, Suite 100 Glen Allen, Virginia 23060 ~ (804) 270-6810
Fax (804) 217-6528
ranuary 5, 2001
To: The Qranue County Business Svatems Manaeement Team
The following report is a summary of findings from Summit Business Solutions (SBS) in relation
to the Needs Analysis performed on Orange County's (County) financial business systems. The
applications within the scope of this project were as follows:
• General Ledger
• Accounts Payable
• Payroll
• Purchasing
• Budgeting
• Fersonnel
• Fixed Assets
The report is presented in the following format:
• Current Situation -this initial section highlights the County's e~cisting financial
systems environment.
+ Major Issues -this section identifies and discusses the major issues that must be
addressed by the County to ensure that its financial systems will provide for
current and future needs.
• Recommended Course of Action -this section of the report states SBS's
recommendations for the next steps to be taken by the County. It includes
recommendations concerning system replacement and project advancement,
• The remainder of the report is separated into appendices that identify specific
issues, infrastructiue recommendations, cost estimates and specific functionality.
Please contact me during this next week to establish a time when we eau discuss these findings.
Sincerely,
David Stanley
Pmject Manager
Orange County
Needs Assessment.Project
I. CURRENT SITUATION
Page 2
Orange County's current financial and personnel systems operate in a legacy systems
environment. These software applications have been in use b3' the County since 1978. Over the
years, numerous programming changes have been made, by the County's Information Systems
staff, in an attempt to meet the County's needs. .These systems were designed as tools far
managing the various sets of data, not for the reporting or analysis of the information. The need
for various reports has grown over the years and the staff now find themselves in the position of
spending significant staff time to produce information requested by Commissioners, various task
forces and others. Further, the present system provides no flexibility for analyzing data, which
would provide valuable information to the management of County government., All requests for
new reports and data inquiries must be accomplished through additional customized
programming. The capabilities of the existing systems' technology have long, since .been
surpassed by the needs of the County.
A major weakness of .the existing systems is their use of batch processing for updating files and
posting transactions to the general ledger. Most business software applications on the mazket
utilize on-line transaction and edit processing. The use of batch processing delays the posting of
transactions, frequently causing user inquiries to be inaccurate because information is not
current.
The County's existing computer environment consists of three primary technologies: a
mainframe system, personal computers,, and the Orange County network. The desktop softwaze
is standazdized on the Microsoft Windows .95/98 operating system and Microsoft OfFice 97 for
its application software suite.
Recognizing the fixnctionality gap between the needs of the County and the technology
limitations of the existing mainframe system, the County has performed a preliminary needs
assessment and conducted informal surveys of other North Carolina counties. Identifying the
urgency to proceed towards a solution, SBS was engaged to perform an in-depth analysis of the
existing County needs to aid in determining the optimal systems solution for providing for these
needs: Our approach, that was used for. this analysis is presented below:
Sten 1: Conducted meetins with the Business Systems Management Team.
This initial step was designed to obtain a high level, strategic view of the project and its
intended direction. Additionally, this afforded SBS the opportunity to ascertain
Management's perspective of the existing technical and operating environments within
the primary functional departments. Periodic meetings were held with, the Management
team to provide updates on the project's status.
Ste 2: Reviewed internal meetin notes strafe 'c lane and other Coun documentation.
Internal documentation was gathered and examined to identify specific issues of concern
and the existing and planned infrastructure within the County. Some of the information
examined included:
• Strategic Automation Plan
• Information Technology Strategic Plan
Orange County Page 3
Needs Assessment Project
• Organizational Charts
• Application software
• User equipment
• Communication network
• Prior needs analysis study
Ste 3: Reviewed SBS standard functionali databases.
SBS maintains numerous databases containing lists of standard functionality for various
functional applications. The databases utilized in this project were related to the each
subsystem within the scope of this project. These databases, along with the prior
collected information, serve as a foundation far generating focused scripts to be used
during the interview sessions.
Ste 4: Conducted meetin s with Directors and ersonnel from rime de artments.
These meetings were designed to collect information on the functional needs required by
the primary departments. As the heaviest users of these systems, the personnel from
these departments provided insight into the majority of the identified system needs.
Steps: Held cross-functional interviews with key operational personnel.
The intent of these interviews was to identify needed functionality from the viewpoint of
users outside the primary functional departments. This process identified bath redundant
and unique needs. _ Often, the discussions uncovered interdepartmental issues that
revealed the need for additional functionality.
Step.G: Delivered preliminary findings to departments for initial review and feedback.
Since the purpose of this project was.to identify the specific functionality needed of each
system, it was necessary to request feedback from the primary departments on the listings
of needs. The lists were also prioritized based on the perceived level of need, as
expressed by all interviewed personnel. The departments were requested to evaluate
these stated priorities and make recommendations for any desired changes.
Step 7: Met with Business Systems„Management Team to review feedback.
This meeting was held to provide the Management Team with the opportunity to share
their department's feedback with SBS and the rest of the team members. This
information has been integrated into this final report.
Orange County Page 4
Needs Assessment Project
YI. MAJOR ISSi7ES
During the course of our assessment we identified four (4) major issues that need to be addressed
by the County to insure that its current and future needs will be fully satisfied. These areas of
concern are (1) lack of system integration, (2) antiquated technology, (3) missing functionality,
and (4) insufficient reporting capabilities. Each of these issues is manifested in a number of
smaller, but significant, problems that the County is currently facing. A representative listing of
these problems is detailed in Appendix A of this report.
A. Lack of system integration
The County's legacy financial systems are not integrated which prohibits the sharing of
common and complementary information. As a reminder the legacy business system is
comprised of the following functions:
• General Ledger
• Accounts Payable
• Payroll
• ,Purchasing
• Budgeting
• Personnel
• Fixed Assets
The lack of system integration significantly reduces operational efficiency and can result
in keying errors and omitted information. Integrated systems share a common database
that allows different applications. access to the same information, within security
protocols. This eliminates the need for maintaining identical information in separate
systems.
Example: Purchase order information is currently keyed into the system initially by
either the Purchasing department or the requesting department. Then, when a payment
request is issued for this purchase order, much of the same information is entered into the
Accounts Payable system. This duplication of:effort often results in keying errors that
cause additional processing efforts and .delayed vendor payments. Nonpayment and late
payment of vendor invoices can adversely affect the perception of the County's business
partners.
B. Antiquated Software Applications
The current financial systems were constructed in the .late 197U's, utilizing the available
technology. Extensive programming to these systems has occurred over the years to add
needed functianality as requested. However, due to technology limitations within the
software, many important requests were abandoned or the programming resulted in
limited functionality. Additionally, these legacy systems require greater staffing for
support than off-the-shelf commercial systems. This is due to the static nature of
Orange County
Needs Assessment Project
Page 5
proprietary systems as compared to newer, customizable open systems that are designed
to be vendor-neutral.
Example: The County desires to increase its efficiency and lower its costs through a
greater reliance on electronic processing and moving towards a "paperless" environment.
Operating in this changing environment requires that all primary business systems be
integrated using softwaze that capitalizes on current technology. A paperless purchasing
process, for example, requires that, at a minimum, the systems far purchasing, accounts
payable and general ledger aze tightly integrated, sharing a common database. Further,
paperless offices require imaging functionality, with a tailored import feature, which also
represents new capabilities required of the system. Due to the limitations of the legacy
systems' technology, enhancement of these current systems is not a viable option.
C. Missing functionality
Through our observations and discussions with management and staff, numerous
instances of standazd and custom functionality were identified as absent. The majority of
this missing functionality is due to the limitations of the existing systems: Much of this
absent functionality involves the ability to accept, edit and store certain needed
information, Other missing functionality necessitates the use of desktop applications
(Microsoft Word, Excel, etc.) and manual tracking to accommodate the processing and
archiving of information.
Example: The creation and maintenance of the County's budget is performed manually
using Excel spreadsheets. Information is keyed into the spreadsheet and forwazded to the
Budget Department. Next, this department reviews and makes the necessary adjustments
and requested changes to each departmental budget. All of this information is then
entered into the mainframe system. Each change to the proposed budget involves
massive manual adjustment by the Budget Department. All historic information is
updated manually to azchive the latest actual figures. A standazd budgeting system would
allow each department to maintain its own budget with the Budget Department
performing a more analytical role. As a component of an integrated solution, the
Budgeting system would be automatically updated with all new general ledger account
numbers and authorized positions.
D. Insufficient reporting capabilities
The existing systems have minimal reporting and querying capabilities. Operation of
these capabilities is a complex and inflexible procedure that often provides unsatisfactory
results. An external reporting tool is being used by some departments, however this
product contains limited flexibility and application Additionally, due to the non-
integrated system, each department is responsible for responding to requests for
information from their system. An integrated system with reporting flexibility would
allow users to extract information and create reports without the need for third party
intervention from a support department (Finance, Budget, Purchasing, Personnel).
Orange County
Needs Assessment Project
Page 6
Example: The Finance department receives numerous requests for information from both
internal and external customers. Without a flexible reporting tool, the gathering of this
information is usually a manual process. One such report is the County's Comprehensive
Annual Financial Report (CAFR). Most financial software packages, designed for the
government sector, contain either a shell of the CAFR report or provide enough
t]exibility for its creation. The current manual creation of this report requires a
tremendous amount of manual research and keying of data, and greatly increases the
probability of errors within this report.
E. Batch processing
Processing for these business applications is performed using a batch mode. Numerous
trarisactians are entered, grouped into a batch, and submitted for processing. This process
offers multiple opportunities for. delays in posting. The time required for gathering a
batch Of transactions, processing the batch, and correcting errors can be lengthy.
Therefore, the longer the processing period, the greater the probability that reported
information is inaccurate.
Example: All departments regularly perform queries on the system to view account
balances, determine budget balances, verify personnel changes, etc. If a department
submits a batch and runs a report before the batch has been processed, the report will not
reflect the latest information. The accounts payable system .may not reflect a vendor
payment that has been made. The personnel system may not show changes to employee
records. Purchase orders may not be approved because budget adjustments have not been
processed. Each inaccurate report or inquiry increases the County's inefficiency and
potential exposure to liability.
Qrange County Page 7
Needs Assessment Project
III. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION
It is our recommendation that the County pursue replacing its current business systems
with an integrated systems solution, utilizing open architecture that encompasses each of
the applications within the scope of this project. In conjunction with the County's IT
Plan, this integrated solution must focus on eliminating unnecessary manual processes,
increasing departmental efficiency and enhancing the communication of information to
internal and external users.
Due to the antiquated software applications, current and future needs cannot be
addressed, through enhancement or customization of the applications, in acost-effective
manner. Therefore, to meet existing and fixture requirements, these systems must be
replaced. Given the common fimctionality of these systems, we recommend purchasing
an integrated, packaged solution(s) to replace these outdated applications. Many
software vendors focus on providing business applications for local governments. We
recommend evaluating these "government" software vendors to determine the optimal
solution for the County. This approach will provide the County with applications that
have been designed for, and tested by, other County governments. Our recommended
guidelines for the County's IT infrastructure are included in Appendix B.
To facilitate this system replacement we recommend following the project approach
listed below. These. steps should be pursued immediately to insure the continued support
of the County personnel that were involved in this needs assessment. For project
continuity and efficiency the County should commit to this schedule as phases of one
project and not five independent projects. Separating the project into several subprojects
would require downtime between these projects and eliminate the opportunity for
simultaneously performing tasks in more than one phase. Both instances would likely
increase the overall cost of the project and would make implementation significantly
more. cumbersome and inefficient. Our recommended approach is:
Phase I: Development of RFP
Develop Procurement Strategy
Develop and Publish RFP
Phase II: Systems Evaluation
Analyze Options/Responses/Life Cycle Costs
Vendor Selection/Recommendation
Analyze Cast, Benefits and Risks for Each System
Orange County Page $
Needs Assessment Project
Phase III: Implementation Preparation, -
Network and Application Performance Optimization
Assist with Contract Negotiations
Development of Implementation Plan.
Phase IV: Secure Approvals (e.g. - IT Committee, BOC)
Phase V: Implementation of Selected System(s)
Orange County page 9
Needs Assessment Project
APPENDIX A. EXAMPLES OF .DETAILED ISSUES
This list of specific issues is designed to illustrate a selection of current issues that serve to limit
the efficiency and effectiveness of service within County operations. This list is not an a11-
inclusive detailing of existing issues and, therefore, should not be seen as comprehensive.
SYSTEM-WIDE:
Issue 1: Many of the current applications do not maintain historical information. Once
the latest information is entered into a system, the previous information is overwritten
instead of azchived.
Issue 2: The systems do not have the capability to perform the ad-hoc queries needed for
analysis. With this lack of functionality, this gathering of information becomes a manual
process.
Issue 3: Since the current applications are not integrated there is no shared database for
storing recorded information. This forces departments to maintain duplicate copies of
files and transactions. For example, to ensure accurate processing and tracking, copies
of purchase orders aze kept in Purchasing, Finance and the requesting department.
Issue 4: The proper management of each department requires the ability to perform
`what-if analyses to determine the impact of different financial decisions. The County's
applications currently have no ability to perform this type of analysis. This function
would be invaluable during the annual Budget process when assessing the potential
impact of varying revenue projections vs. proposed expenditures. Additionally, many
packaged products have the ability for employees to perform "what-if' inquiries for
themselves. This might be particulazly useful to them when they try to determine the
impact of health insurance costs, or of putting additional pre-tax money in a 401K plan,
etc.
Issue S: The applications were built using chazacter-based technology, which results in
display screens that are difficult to read. Unlike Windows-based screen presentation,
these displays are very limited in the amount of information that can be placed on the
screen. For this reason, codes aze often utilized in an effort to display more of the needed
information. This increases the difficulty for the user, particulazly those who do not work
with the data daily and may not understand the codes. This can also result in keying
en:ors.
Orange Caurzty
Needs Assessment Project
ACCOUNTING:
Page 10
Issue 1: The current general ledger system is unable to maintain a hierarchical chart of
accounts. This would allow for the accurate grouping of similar revenue and cost
categories by utilizing aparent /child account relationship. Reporting would be
enhanced to allow for high-level or detailed analysis.
Issue 2: The completion of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) is
currently a manual process. This requires massive manual processing and greatly
increases the probability of inaccuracy within the report.
Issue 3: The Finance department receives numerous requests for information from other
departments within the County., Responses to these requests are often delayed and,
depending on the timing of the request, can tie up crucial resources ,during monthly
processing.
Issue 4: Tax levy information, for billing purposes, is manually entered into, the financial
system. This is critical information far County residents 'and the recording of this
information should be automated. A system with advanced importing capabilities would
allow the information to be electronically updated.
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE:
Issue 1: The interface between the Department of Housing and Community
Development system and the Accounts Payable system results in the processing of 450 to
500 rental assistance checks per month. The recording of all voided checks and other
adjustments to these checks must, be performed manually. A general ledger with updated
edit functionality would simplify what is currently alabor-intensive process.
Issue 2: The information that is 'entered onto a purchase order needs to be re-.entered into
the Accounts Payable system. This redundancy of manual entry results in errors that
cause delayed vendor payments..
Issue 3: Multiple numbers are assigned to some vendors due to differences in the
naming convention used by the employee entering the information. The current system
does not have the capability to, display a list of all vendors with similar names, nor the
ability to maintain alternate names for a vendor.
Issue 4: Vendor addresses are routinely changed in the Vendor Master file, causing the
file to reflect an incorrect "Remit to" or "Ship to" address. In an integrated system, both
Accounts Payable and Purchasing would have access to the Vendor file but only to the
appropriate address field.
.Orange County
Needs Assessment Project
PAYROLL:
Page 11
Issue 1: All off-cycle adjustments must be calculated and entered manually. Retroactive
pay adjustments and wage calculations for new employees starting during the pay cycle
are two. examples of manual processing that would be automated in an updated payroll
system.
Issue 2: For same departments, employee travel expenses can be required to be
manually reported on up to six (6) sepazate farms. A flexible reporting tool would allow
the County to create a travel template for recording employee expenses, reducing the
number of paper forms generated. The appropriate supervisor would approve the report
electronically.
Issue 3: The yeaz-end payroll accrual is currently being performed manually. This is a
labor-intensive process that is an automated function in most new payroll softwaze
applications.
Issue 4: All adjustments to employee W-2 forms must be handled manually in the
existing system. This is critical information that is supplied to the employee, the IRS,
and all other applicable government entities. The automation of this process .would
reduce the possibility of issuing an incorrect farm.
PURCHASING:
Issue 1: Purchase requisitions are created by the departments and sent to Purchasing far
processing. While the requisition form may be automated through a desktop application,
it is not integrated into any part of the existing financial system until a purchase order is
actually cut by the Purchasing Department. Since the present system provides no
tracking capability the actual status of a requisition in transit cannot be determined. This
presents the opportunity for significant delays of an order. A standazd purchase order
system, installed on a network, would allow for the electronic submission, approval and
tracking of all orders.
Issue 2: Information submitted on purchase requisitions is often inaccurate and/or
incomplete, which requires additional Purchasing staff.time to verify such information as
account numbers and/or account balances. Further, it involves time for the Budget Office
as well, since the status of any pending budget transfers is determined prior to returning
the order to the originating department. A purchase order system could be configured to
require a correct account number and budgeted funds before allowing the request to be
forwazded to Purchasing.
Issue 3: Vendor applications must be entered and maintained manually by Purchasing
department personnel. Additionally, since the Purchasing system does not maintain a
commodity code listing, the vendor is required to enter a descriptive list of its goods or
service offerings. This process results in additional manual entry and a vendor database
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with non-standard information from vendor to vendor. A purchasing system that is Web-
enabled to allow the vendor to enter all information online, including commodity codes
for all applicable offerings, would result in an efficient process for maintaining a
standardized vendor database. This would enable the;.County to consistently request bids
and proposals from all registered vendors that offer the desired good or service.
Issue 4: Vendors frequently contact Purchasing to request a modification to a purchase
order. Purchasing generally makes the .adjustment, which requires updated pricing,
inclusion of freight charges, etc. A standard purchase order system could be configured
to prompt the requesting department for ancillary chazges such as freight or sales tax.
BUDGETING:
Issue 1: The current budget system was created in-house by Budget staff and integrates
Excel spreadsheets and Word documents. The system utilizes source spreadsheets
containing amounts for individual line items in each department. In order to summarize
that information at various levels, (functional, category, fund), it is necessary to create
. links from the source ,spreadsheet. This causes the system to be very fragile and labor
intensive. For example, with the creation of a new department, Budget staff must
manually update all summary spreadsheets to include the new links. In addition, staff
must constantly check to ensure that all "checks and balances" are in place at all times..
Issue 2: Budget data (including requested, recommended, approved and final actual
amounts) must be manually entered into each department's individual source spreadsheet.
As part of an integrated solution, historic data and budget information would be stored in
a shazed database, automatically updating the files in .both the general ledger .and the
budget systems.
Issue 3: The current budget system has a very limited capability to maintain different
versions of the budget. For example, during budget prepazation, it is important that staff
be able to perform "what-if' analyses on different levels of revenues and expenses. With
the existing system, the staff time required to perform these analyses is too prohibitive to
analyze every desired option.
Issue 4: During the yeaz, it is necessary for departments to transfer budgeted funds
between operating Iine items. To accomplish this task, the department prepazes a transfer
request and forwards it to the Budget department. The Budget staff then manually keys
the transfer information into the mainframe general ledger system. ,After creating and
posting the batch, the Budget office maintains one copy of the transfer. and returns
another copy to the originating department. Anew budget system would, allow
departments to make pre-approved line item transfers on-line, reducing the paper and
staff time required by the current system.
Issue 5: An interface between the Budget system and the Personnel system does not
exist. The creatian and maintenance of the annual budget relies heavily on information
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received from Personnel: Information such as number of full-time equivalent positions
and base salary amounts are currently uploaded from the mainframe, but because of
limitations in the Personnel system, each position's, information must be manually
verified. For example, there may be a temporary reduction in the number of hours a
permanent employee works. The Personnel system will download the current position's
status instead of the permanent authorization.
PERSONNEL:
Issue 1: The existing Personnel system does not have the capability to store employee
history information. Numerous "holes" in the employee database have resulted due to
this system weakness. For example, when a former employee is rehired, his/her prior
information is not retained for future access.
Issue 2: The Personnel department receives and inputs all requests for additions and
changes to employee records. The current system does not have the capability to assign
other departments and employees varying degrees of access. A .standard personnel
system would provide numerous security levels to allow non-Personnel employees to
input information from employee actions to address changes. It also would allow
operating departments to view the department's employee and position records.
Issue 3: The position control process is currently maintained manually using cards. This
information is critical to the County's personnel and budget operations and should be
automated. Any new system should contain this feature as standazd functionality.
Issue 4: Various positions within the County require periodic professional and safety.
training. The current system is very limited in its ability to track and report information
regazding training and certification. These certifications often dictate whether an
employee can continue to perform his/her duties and, therefore, it is vital that this
information is maintained accurately.
Issue 5: Personnel has a heavy volume of required statutory and management reports.
Because of current "holes" in the database's information and lack of flexible reporting
tools, many of these reports have to be manually checked and adjusted. An updated
system with reporting flexibility would allow the production of accurate reports without
manual intervention.
FIXED ASSETS:
Issue I: The County possesses an inadequate Fixed Asset Management system that
consists of a series of Excel spreadsheets that do not interface with the general ledger.
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) pronouncement #34 mandates
that the County begin tracking and reporting its infrastructure assets. This would not be
possible within the County's current system. A Fixed Asset system, integrated with
Accounts Payable, would simplify the process of asset tracking and meet the reporting
requirements of GASB #34.
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Issue 2: Purchases of fixed assets aze currently selected and tracked based on the General
Ledger account number. only, which is only .one component of the fixed asset policy. The
current system maintains little. flexibility regarding how fixed assets aze tracked,
necessitating that certain fixed asset categories be tracked manually. The maintenance of
qualitative asset information such as in-service dates and custom descriptions requires the
utilization of manual records. Integration between the accounts payable, general ledger
and fixed asset systems would allow far the automated collection of all desired asset
information.
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APPENDIX S. IT INFRASTRUCTURE GUIDELINES
This section of the report contains the recommended technology approach to be considered for
implementing new systems. The basic technology foundation must be in place for any software
system to be successful. This foundation consists of basic business requirements and
infrastructure guidelines. The business requirements should determine the software needs that, in
turn, will drive the hardware choice.
Standards and Recommendations Blueprint
This should serve as a guideline for any replacements, additions or enhancements to the existing
systems. Any new system must follow these guidelines:
• The system must be easy to operate and maintain
+ Reporting must be timely and accurate
• Any solution must be cost effective
• The system must be flexible and stable
Based on these guidelines, Summit Business Solutions recommends that Orange County apply
the following standards and approaches to any systems decisions:
• Open systems. standards should be adopted to provide maximum flexibility.
• Client/Server, web enabled, distributed processing is the most appropriate architecture for
Orange County's operational structure.
• Technology choices should be driven by business needs.
General S stem Architecture
We believe that Orange County should be committed to an open systems standazd. An open
system is one in which the interfaces, services, protocols and formats, conform to "vendor
neutral" standazds. These standazds are established by industry groups and consortia to address
the business need to implement systems that utilize components that are "best in class" in an
integrated and consistent operating environment regardless of the vendor that provides the
component.
The benefits to an organization of implementing open systems are flexibility, interoperability,
scalability, and portability. These benefits are both short and long-term in nature. Flexibility
allows selection of a package or component that is most suited to the business requirements
without concern for compatibility with other components. Interoperability ensures that a
component will interface with the components supplied by other vendors. Scalability allows
selection of the most appropriate platform or system to match the operating requirements of the
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business. Portability ensures that the investrnent in software will be preserved if a different
vendor's platform is implemented at a future date:
The main criterion for the hardware is flexibility. The hardware must have the capacity to grow
in terms of the number of users, processing power, and storage capacity without response time
degradation. Hardware and softwaze standards should be established to promote ease of support
by technical staff and to promote uniformity and sharing of information among County
employees.
Oranue County IT Plan
Orange County's Strategic IT Plan (initiated November 1997, updated annually) conforms to the
standards lisfed above. The County has been working for three yeazs to bring its infrastructure up
to a standazd that will support modern systems.
The County network has been upgraded to a frame relay wide azea network capable of
supporting Client/Server, web enabled, distributed. applications. The various personal computers
within the county .have been brought up to a minimum maintainable standazd. These PCs will be
replaced under a life cycle policy where approximately 25% will be replaced each yeaz. A
technical support and training initiative has been established to insure proper end user support is
available to departmental personnel. Training should not be considered an "event" but part of an
ongoing improvement process aimed at keeping employees efficient and effective in the use of
new technologies and systems. All of these elements will help to facilitate the introduction of
new integrated software systems.
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APPENDIX C. COST ESTIMATES
Page 17
The replacement of the County's busvaess systems (as listed, in the cover to this report) is a
critical project that requires the support and cooperation of alk levels of management and staff to
be successful. Many counties in North Carolina have already converted to new business systems
over the past five (5) years. The overall cost of these implementations is greatly influenced by
the support of the employees and the degree of project planning and control utilized. The
County can anticipate the total cost of this project, including planning, implementation and
training, to cost between $500,000 and $750,000. The reason for this range is attributable to the
differences in vendor software pricing and County-defined requirements such as the degree of
historical information converted and software customizations.
Based on our experience with projects of compazable size, the County can expect the following
cost breakdown:
Software licensing: 60%
Additional Hazdware: 10%
Planning/Implementation/Training: 30%
Most Commercial-OfF The-Shelf (CATS) business systems aze marketed as independent
modules that comprise an overall integrated solution. Therefore, the software costs will be
driven by the number of modules requested and the number of concurrent seat licenses required
by the County.
Based on the County's current infrastructure, additional hardwaze needs should be minimal
regazdless of the softwaze systems selected.
Planning and implementation should be viewed as vital elements to the success of the County's
project. When business system replacements are unsuccessful it can generally be traced to one
of the following causes:
~ Insufficient project planning
~ Incomplete analysis of vendor systems
~ Lack of internal commitment (all levels)
~ Poor project management
~ Inadequate training
~ Insufficient funding
More concise cost estimates will become available as the project progresses to the point where
the optimal vendor package(s) is selected.
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APPENDIX D. DETAILED FUNCTIONALITY
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General Ledger Overview.
The current general ledger application was created using technology available in the 1970's and
utilizes line item logic for driving the chart of accounts. This technology is not user friendly and
is limited in its potential for future enhancements. The primary needs of this system aze efficient
daily, monthly and annual processing, ease of user access, and seamless integration with other
financial applications.
1 General Ledger System is fully integrated with the following
unctional modules: Inter nal Prior ities
2 With Accounts Payable K
3 With Payroll X
4 With Purchasing X
5 With Fixed Assets X
6 With Budgeting K
7 Is self-balancing X
$ ccommodates fund group "divisions" X
9 ccommodates fund type X
10 Capability to establish and maintain general ledger account
information.
11 Including Department Number. X
12 Including Account Number. X
13 Including Account Type -Asset. X
14 Including Account Type -Liability. X
15 Including Account Type -Revenue: X
16 Including Account Type -Expenditure "expense". K
17 Including Account Description for each Segment of the
ccount Number Format. X
18 Including Account Type Code. X
19 Including Fund Group Code. X
20 Including DebitlCredit Indicator. X
21 Including Last Transaction .Date. X
22 Including .Previous Five (5) Years Approved Budget for
Revenue/Expenditure Accounts. X
23 Including Month-to-Date Transaction Totals. X
24 Including Year-to-Date Transaction Totals. X
25 apability to deactivate accounts from further posting without
elating the general ledger account: - X
26 Capability to support end-of-year processing to clear
ppropriate revenue and expenditure accounts. X
27 Capability to identify non-lapsing revenue/expenditure accounts
uring year-end processing. X
28 Capability to process subsequent month transactions prior to
losing the previous month. X
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Inte rnal Prior ities
29 Capability to provide error messages for invalid dates, account
umbers, projects, and out of balance conditions prior to X
ttempting the update process.
30 Capability to prohibit general ledger account master files from
being deleted unless balance is zero and there has been no X
ctivity for the current year.
31 apability to process recurring journal entries by storing them
in a recurring journal entry file. X
32 Capability to automatically post recurring entries based a
arameter driven date schedule without operator command. X
33 Capability to offset multiple general ledger accounts within one
'ournal entry. X
34 Capability to automatically default system date in all date fields.
X
35 Capability to review entries from other accounting sub-systems
prior to posting. X
36 Capability tv reverse entries posted through a batch process
ithout reversing the entries individually. X
37 Capability to post in summary or by detailed joumal entry within
ach process. X
38 Capability to provide access tv departments for inquiry and
reporting purposes.
39 Based on Date. X
40 Based on Date Range. X
41 Based on Type of Activity. X
42 Based on Transaction Amount. X
43 Based on Total Amount. X
44 Based on Budget Amount. X
45 Based on Check Number. X
46 Based on Vendor or Payee Name. X
47 Based on Budget Adjustments. X
48 Based on Journal Entry Number. X
49 Ensures that journal entries balance prior to posting X
50 bility to maintain a minimum of five years of detailed
ransaction data. X
51 Flexible.account structure with user defined account codes
ompatible with the following reporting and accounting
requirements:
52 GAAP X
53 GAAFR - X
54 GASB X
55 upports full accrual accounting and reporting X
56 upports the "roll-up" of general ledger, revenues,
xpenditures, and objects to a reportable level, which is in full
ompliance with accounting standards, practices and reporting X
requirements.
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Inter nal Priori ties
57 Supports at least 13 accounting periods in a fiscal year. X
58 Supports multi-year processing by allowing two fiscal years~ta X
be open concun'ently.
59 Capability to accept account and transaction amounts up to
99 million, with the ability to increase capacity if needed up to X
999 million.
BO upports the ability to maintain two open fiscal months
- oncurrently, in addition to the 13th month of the prior fiscal X
ear.
61 upport the ability to create and easily maintain multiple charts X
f accounts on-line, real-time.
62 upports positive validation of account number input prior to X
ledger update.
63 biliry to automatically chargeback of costs to departments,
based on multiple allocation methods (i.e. -per mile, direct X
ost)
64 Maintain and process multiple funds (and grants) within a X
Ingle general ledger system.
65 Capability to link funds "divisions" and accounts together for
ccount number creation to eliminate need for data entry of X
ach individual account. _
66 Capability to generate output for microfiche or other archiving X
processes.
67 Supports the enterprise fund type required for the organizations X
ost accounting.
68 Provides controls to ensure that funds "divisions" remain in X
balance (e.g., debits equal credits).
69 Provide, at a minimum, a 30-character account name for each, X
ccount in the chart of accounts.
70 upports the collection of statistical data for performance
measurement reporting (such as square footage, time, etc.) on X
a module basis.
71 upports at least 9,999 accounts. X
72 Supports the ability to activate and de-activate accounts with X
ffective start and end dates.
73 Provides mass maintenance capability for modifying the
lassification structure (e.g., changing account descriptions, X
ransferring account balances).
74 Provide capabilities to assure that all transactions by fund and X
in total are in balance before updating the general ledger.
75 upports efFicient transaction entry without requiring entry of all X
lassification elements.
76 Supports the use of reference tables for data and transaction
ntry that are capable of inferring other classification structure X
lements.
77 Support the ability to process the following six journal entry
pes:
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Inte rnal Prior ities
78 Standard journals (exact same entry every certain period of ""
ime) X
79 Recurring journals with the same or similar classification
requirements X
80 Automatically reversing vacation/sick leave journals X
81 Automatically reversing end of month payroll and benefits
accrual X
82 Automatically reversing end of year payment accruals X
83 Allocation journals, including payroll benefit calculations
based on actual payroll dollars and allocated back to originating
ost center with appropriate balance sheet accounts X
84 Supports user defined journal voucher numbers. X
85 Supports the ability to view and print unposted journals with
rrors and posted joumal transactions. X
86 upport the ability to duplicate a transaction from a previously
ntered transaction without re-keying. X
87 Screen design provides that all distributions to a given
ransaction can be entered on the same screen (automatic X
troll),
88 Supports batch.processing of journal entries with multiple
obits and/or credits on a single screen. Batch processing
method must allow for administrative review and approval of all X
ournal entries entered on-line.
89 Provide the option to enter a description for each line item of a
'ournal entry with a minimum field size of 60 characters. X
90 Support the capability to print a hard copy of all journal entries.
X
91 Provide capability to carry forward all account balances from
he closed fiscal year to the next fiscal year. X
92 Provide a "notes" capability for on-line transactions in addition
o the description field. X
93 Provide the option to have system automatically "number'
'ournal entries sequentially. X
94 Provide an out of balance fund message showing debit and
redit totals fvr on-line journal entries. X
95 Supports error processing of journal entries with a suspense
ccount for required manual approval. X
96 upports drill-down capabilities to move from the display of
ccount summaries to originating system. _ X
97 bility to automate ACH transactions. X
98 Provide the ability to do "wildcard masking" in the selection of
balance sheet accounts and subsidiary accounts to display and X
eport. "
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99 Produce statement of revenue, expenditures and changes in
and balance in formats prescribed by accounting standards `
nd practices. Inter
X nal Prior ities
100 Capability to generate a chart of accounts. X
101 Capability to generate a general ledger trial balance.
102 Including debit and.credit balances for each account. X
103 Including the capability to sequence by fund, classification,
object, or division. X
104 Including the flexibility to select alternate sort sequences. X
105 Including the capability to print warning messages if general
ledger is out of balance. X
106 Capability to generate balance sheet by fund "division". X
107 Capability to generate a combined balance sheet for all fund
pes and account groups. X
108 Capability to retain all monthly transactions to generate an
nnual general ledger journal register:. ` X
109 Capability to generate an audit trail report of all fle
maintenance performed, including a before and after image of
he record modified.
X
110 Provides standard, user requestable reports that include:
111 Daily transaction register X
112 Control reports listing any differences between the general
ledger and subsidiary ledgers X
113 Month to date summary of transactions X
114 Year-to-date summary of transactions X
115 Journal voucher list by document X
116 G/L master listing of balances X
117 Monthly revenue sub-ledger X
118 Journal entries by fund "division" X
119 Quarterly Reports X
120 Six Month Reports X
121 CAFR Reports X
122 Including Previous Year -Actual. X
123 Including Current Year -Budget. X
124 Including Year-to-date Expenditures "Expenses" X
125 Including Total Current Estimate. X
126 Capability to print all detailed transactions for the entire year. X
127 Capability to print current period detail with prior period activity
ummarized for beginning period total. X
128 Capability to print year-to-date balances, only.- X
129 Capability to print by various account classifications with
ppropriate totals.
X
130 Capability to generate Expense Status and History Report for
ach expenditure account. X
131 Including Annual Budget. X
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132 Including Re-Budgeted Amount for carryover Budget Amounts
om prior year adjusted annual budget. inte
X rnal Prior ities
133 Including Budget Amendments/Adjustments with reference to
he input data for each expenditure and revenue account
ncumbrance transaction.
X
134 Including Encumbrance Liquidation Transactions. X
135 Including Actual Expenditure Transactions. X
136 Capability to interface with actual revenue and expenditure
amounts to develop a cash flow management report. X
137 Capability to interface with the payroll system to obtain
information. X
138 Including Salary Information. X
139 Including Wage Information. X
140 Including Benefit Information. X
141 Including Statistical Information. X
142 d hoc reporting capability which allows authorized users to
evelop, generate, and save queries and reports. X
143 bility to save and re-use ad hoc reporting queries. X
144 upports the generation of reports at any time during the
ccounting cycle. X
145 utomatically generates the following statements in formats
ccording to accounting standards and practices:
146 Combined balance sheet X
147 Combined statement of revenues, expenses and changes in
retained earnings (e.g., proprietary fund types) X
148 Combined and combining statements of changes in cash
ows X
149 Supports the receipt and processing of relevant financial
ransactions created in other applications using a standard
inbound interface facility (i.e. -tax system).
X
150 bility to review transactions received from other application
ystem prior to posting into the general ledger X
151 Master file inquiries including:
152 bility to download data to Excel. X
153 Date X
154 ype of activity X
155 mount of transaction X
156 otal amount X
157 Budget amount X
158 Receipt of check number - X
159 endor or payee name X
160
161 Budget adjustments
ournal entry number X
X
162 Perform a "soft' close an prior year activities X
163
164 End of year processing to clear accounts
Date-sensitive transaction entries X
X
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Accounts Payable Overview:
The current accounts payable application with an interface to the general ledger. There is,
however, little integration with the purchasing application. This is a critical element that should
be required of any new system. The accounts payable function is currently a heavily manual
process. For efficiency and accuracy, the information included on purchase orders and other
payment requests should be keyed once and automatically transferred to accounts payable.
Scanning of original documents should also be considered.
1 On-line entry and transaction editing. Inter
X nal Prior ities
2 Batch updating with transaction edit listing or real time posting. X
3 File maintenance processing. X
4 utomatic invoice terms. X
5 bility to set up 1099 information on all vendors that are
created. X
6 bility to prevent entry of invoices if 1099 information is not fully
completed to federal requirements. X
7 arms oven'ide allowed. X
8 bility to process one-time vendor purchases/payables. X
9 bility to set up new vendors concurrent to entering P.O.s or
invoices. X
10 endor master file data, as follows: X
11 Vendor number X
12 Vendor name X
13 Vendor address X
14 Alternate vendor payment addressee (minimum of 10) X
15 Nine digit zip code X
16 Vendor Federal I.D. or Social Security number X
17 Contact person X
18 Vendor telephone number X
19 Fax number X
20 E Mail address X
21 Terms code X
22 Comment field X
23 Substitute vendor X
24 Commodity code (multiple occurrences) X
25 Current balance X
26 Total purchases last year X
27 Total purchases year-ta-date - X
28
29 bility to distribute invoices to multiple general ledger accounts.
bility to distribute invoice amounts based on user defined
ercentages. X
X
30 bility to ADJUST a fixed asset record that can be transferred
o the fixed asset module. X
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31 bility to create recurring invoice entries which are posted at -
user defined frequencies. . Inter nal Priori ties
X
32 bility tc bring forward information from purchase order. X
33 bility to.handle partial payments of purchase orders. X
34 bility to accrue sales tax omitted from vendor invoice. X
35 bility to automatically create monthly sales tax reports. X
36 bility to select alternate rates for accrual. of sales tax. X
37 bility to produce a cash disbursements journal with: X
38 Detailed audit trail by account number X
39 Ability to automatically generate general ledger account
summary entries X
40 bility to produce a cash requirements report. ~ X
41 apability to produce a check register with: X
42 Detailed audit trail of cash disbursements by check number,
endor number, vendor name, date paid, account number and
brief description of expenditure
X
43 Detail of voided checks X
44 ystem contains an ad-hoc reporting tool. X
45 Capability to produce an outstanding check list by bank code
nd check number.
X
46 Capability to produce computer generated checks, including
he: X
47 Ability to select invoices for payment by due date X
48 Ability to generate multiple checks per vendor X
49 Ability to print checks on laser printer X
50 Ability to print single check for specific invoice X
51 Ability to print manual check X
52 bility to pay multiple vouchers and/ar purchase orders per
heck. X
53 .bility to report detail payments made to a specific vendor. X
54 Capability to list all expenditures to be paid in alphabetical .
rder by vendor. X
55 Capability to sort and print "large dollar" checks first and with a
user-defined dollar amount. X
56 Capability to identify checks that were manually prepared in
mparison to those generated through the normal accounts.
payable process.
X
57 bility to post summary information to general ledger while
retaining accounts payable detail far year-to-date
endor/purchase information. -
X
58 bility to process vendor credit memos. X
59 Check reversal processing. X
60 Hold payment for disputed invoices. X
61 Interfaces with general ledger module. X
62 Interfaces with payroll module for travel expense
reimbursement. X
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Inter nal. Prior ities
63 Intertaces with budgeting module. X
64 Interfaces with purchasing module. - X
65 endor inquiry ability by vendor name, vendor number or P.O.
number. X
66 Supports the receipt and processing of vendor information and
heck requests created in other applications using a standard X
inbound intertace facility (i.e. -Housing rental assistance).
67 Check reconciliation processing. X
68 bility to merge multiple vendor records to create a single
endor with all information -current or historic -combined. X
69 bili to su ort ACH rocessin and intertace to the GL. X
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Payroll Uverview:
The current payroll application is nat integrated with the personnel application. While. the
payroll process is designed for initial manual entry, excess manual manipulation by payroll
technicians is required for accurate financial reporting. Any,~new system should be focused on
resolving both of these issues. Due to the importance of accurate employee .payment and
recording, the requirement to shaze information between personnel and payroll is primary.
Inter nal Prior ities
1 Capability to intertace with the Human Resources processing
system to eliminate the need to maintain employee information X
in two systems.
2 apability to store Payroll information far auser-defined period X
f time.
3 Capability to print timesheet labels, paychecks and pay stubs. X
4 Capability to store: Payment method, (Check, direct deposit, X
tc.)
5 Capability to store: Pay frequency ~ X
6 Capability to store: Pay rate X
7 Capability to stare: Maximum pay amount allowed X
8 Capability to store: Tax exempt status X
9 Capability to store: Number of dependents (exemptions) X
10 Capability to store: Date of last pay change X
11 Capability to store: Earnings balances X
12 Capability to store: Earned hours balances X
13 Capability to store: Withholdings balances X
14 Capability to store: Judgment or wage garnishment amounts. X
15 Capability to direct reports to selected printers at the time the X
report is created.
16 apability to request reports to be displayed on the user's X
erminal rather than being printed.
17 bility to automatically prevent the printing of negative checks. X
18 bility to support up to 25 deductions per check. X
19 upport payment to exempt and nonexempt (overtime) salaried X
mployees.
20 apability to automatically interface with the accounts payable
ystem to retain summary employee, expense report X
information.
21 bility to accrue vacation hours and report on accrued vacation X
liability.
22 Control and report payroll information by department. X
23 Capability to control distribution of earnings based on regular
nd overtime hours to different General Ledger accounts and
subaccounts for each type of hours; i.e. regular hours to one X
GL account and overtime hours to a different GL account
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Inte rnal Prior ities
24 . bility to report regular and overtime hours and cost
istributians by employee. , X
25 Capability to generate monthly/quarterly earning reports,
Government wage and insurance reports to meet_Government X
reporting requirements.
26 Capability to generate annual earning reports, Government
age and insurance reports to meet Government reporting X
requirements.
27 Capability to support manual check processing. X
28 Capability to support payroll advance processing including the
monitoring of outstanding advances. X
29 apability to calculate and pay retroactive pay increases. X
30 Capability to calculate"shift premium pay. X
31 Support extra tax withholding both at the state and federal
level. X
32 Support tax withholding for Government, State and City taxing
gencies. X
33 bility to void a check and automatically reverse the General
Ledger distribution of original check. X
34 Capability to process proforma payroll runs to verify payroll
mounts and deductions prior to allowing multiple verification X
runs (if needed) before actually processing the payroll update. "
35 upport reconciliation of checks issued and balance to bank
tatement. X
36 Ilow users to select reports to be printed in employee number
order. X
37 Ilow users to print reports with user defined sorting
equences. X
38 apability to print subtotals based on changes in the sorting
eys (example: totals for each separate location). X
39 Provide an hours worked labor distribution report. X
40 Provide a payroll disbursements report. X
41 Provide a payroll earnings report. X
42 Provide a payroll deduction report. X
43 Provide a General Ledger labor cost distribution report. X
44 apability to automatically interface to the proposed General
Ledger subsystem. X
45 uppart bonus and overtime pay plans. X
46 Ilow entry of multiple labor entries per employee, User should
e able to override department and pay rate on each detail line. X
47 Capability To process time and earnings transactions. X
48 apability To process pay advances. X
49 Capability To process pay adjustments. X
50 Capability To process manual checks. X
51 apability To process vacation pay. X
Orange County
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Inter nal Prior ities
52 .Capability To process holiday pay. X
53 Capability To process sick pay. X
54 apability To process supplemental pay. X
55 Capability To process longevity pay., X
56 Capability To process worker's compensation payments. X
57 Capability To process bonuses. X
58 Capability To process other eamings transactions. X
59 Capability To process payroll for temporary employees. X
60 Capability To print reports including employee profile X
information.
61 Capability To print reports including employee payroll activity X
information.
62 Capability To print reports including transactions posted to X
payroll
63 Capability To print reports including current eamings and X
deduction information.
64 Capability To print reports including vacation, holiday and sick X
leave information.
65 Capability Ta print reports including payroll taxes information. X
66 Capability To print reports including unemployment taxes
X
information.
67 Capability Ta print reports including paycheck information. X
68 Capability To print reports including check reconciliation X
information-
69 Capability To print reports including transactions posted to the X
General Ledger
70 Capability to retrieve an employee's payroll records using X
mployee number.
71 Capability to retrieve an employee's payroll records using socia X
ecurity number.
72 Capability to retrieve an employee's payroll records using the X
employee's first and last name.
73 Capability to retrieve an employee's payroll records using the X
mplayee's address
74 Capability to retrieve an employee's payroll records using the X
employee's telephone number
75 Capability to retrieve an employee's payroll records using the X ,
mployee birth date
76 apability to retrieve an employee's payroll records using the X
ate the employee was hired. -
77 Capability to retrieve an employee's payroll records using the X
employee termination date
78 Capability To define employee numbers using up to a 10 digit X
alphanumeric number.
79 Capability To pay employees based a salary amount. X
80 apability To pay employees based on hours worked X
Orange County
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Inte rnal Prior ities
81 bility to pay employees bi-weekly. X
82 apability to pay employees semi-monthly. X
83 Capability to pay employees monthly. X
84 Capability to pay employees Bonuses (multiple occurrences
per year) X
85 Capability to use multiple pay rates in the calculation of an
employee's salary X
$6 Capability to use old and new pay rates will be used in the
omputation of an employee's earnings when rate changes are X
made in the middle of a pay period
87 Capability to track employee expense report information
including year-to-date totals. X
88 Capability to create multiple direct deposit entries to update the
employee's checking or savings account and automatically pay X
bill.
89 Capability to accumulate and maintain employee eamings for
he following periods: Current period. X
90 apability to accumulate and maintain employee eamings for
he following periods: Month-to -date. X
91 Capability to accumulate and maintain employee eamings for
he following periods: Quarter-to-date. X
92 Capability to accumulate and maintain employee eamings for
he following periods: Year-to-date (calendar and fiscal). X
93 Capability to accumulate and maintain employee earnings for
he following periods: Each quarter for the past two years or X
longer.
94 he ability to maintain Federal/Government income tax
ithholding information for an employee. X
95 Capability to report the following on the pay stub: Employee
number X
96 Capability to report the fallowing on the pay stub: Social
Security number. X
97 Capability to report the following on the pay stub: Employee
name X
98 apability to report the following on the pay stub: Check
umber X
99 apability to report the following on the pay stub: Check date X
100 apability to report the fallowing on the pay stub: Payroll period
nding date X
101 apability to report the following on the pay stub: Pay rate X
102 Capability to report the following on the pay stub: Hours X
103 Capability to report the following on the pay stub: Payroll
epartment designated message. X
104 Capability to specify and print paycheck messages by
epartment. X
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Needs Assessment Project
Inter nal Prior ities
105 Capability to report the fallowing on the pay stub: Regular X
hours and earnings
106 apability to report the following on the pay stub: Overtime X
hours and earnings
~
107 F'remium
Capability to report the following on the pay stub: X
hours and earnings
108 Capability to report the following on the pay stub: Vacation X
hours and earnings
109 Capability to report the following on the pay stub: Holiday hours X
nd earnings
110 Capability to report the following on the pay stub: Sick leave ~
hours and earnings
111 apability to report the following on the pay stub: Gross X
arnings.
112 Capability to report the following on the pay stub: Net earnings. x
113 Capability to report the following on the pay stub: Taxable X
arnings.
114 Capability to report the following on the pay stub: Nontaxable X
earnings.
115. Capability to report the following on the pay stub: X
Federal/Government income taxes withheld
116 Capability to report.the following on the pay stub: State income X
xes withheld
117 apability to report the following on the pay stub: County X
income taxes withheld
118 , Capability to report the following on the pay stub: Local/City X
income taxes withheld
119 Capability to report the following on the pay stub: Voluntary X
eductions
120 Capability to print year-to-date payroll information on a pay x
tub.
121 Capability to perform the following edits prior to posting the X
ransacticns to the payroll system: Validate employee number
122 Capability to perform the following edits prior to posting the
ransactions to the payroll system: Hours worked do not exceed X
maximum hours allowed for the employee
123 Capability to perform the following edits prior to posting the
ransactions to the payroll system: General Ledger account X
numbers are verified as valid numbers in the chart of accounts
124 Capability to perform the following edits prior to pasting the
ransactions to the payroll system: General Ledger distribution X
mounts equal the payroll transaction amount
125 Capability to pertorm the following edits prior to posting the
ransactions to the payroll system: Capability to support direct X
eposit of payroll to multiple banks.
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Infie rnal Prior ifiies
126 Capability to support flexible benefit calculations (i.e., ability to
educt benefit costs before or after taxes are calculated based X
n users requirements).
127 apability to restrict access to selected payroll inquiry screens
based on security codes. X
128 Capability to restrict access to selected payroll file maintenance
Greens based on security codes. X
129 Capability to restrict access to employee account information
based on security codes. X
130 Capability to restrict report generation based on employee
codes. X
131 Capability to generate a report that tracks employee time and
effort by activity for State reimbursement. X
132 Capability to enter payroll tax withholding parameters through a
menu-driven process rather than requiring tax rates to be X
compiled into the payroll program(s).
133 Capability to support flat rate withholding deductions based on
percentage of gross pay. X
134 apability to process withholding entries based on a fixed
ollar amount per check. X
135 Capability to process withholding entries based on a maximum
nnual deduction amount with even amounts automatically X
deducted per check.
136 Capability to specify maximum annual withholding amounts. X
137 Capability to bank over-time and double-time hours earned as
vailable paid time off. X
138 Capability to set limits to banked time earned within a given
ime period. X
Orange County
Needs Assessment Project
Page 34
Purcliasing Overview:
The current purchasing application is outdated and incapable of handling current process
requirements such as purchase order tracking and vendor analysis. Any new system should
enable departments to submit only approved purchase requests and, subsequently, track each
request through the purchasing process. Stored information on each vendor would provide
insight into potential volume purchasing, poor vendor performance, and focused bidder lists.
1 On-line data entry and editing of purchase. order transactions
includin Inte rnal Priorit ies
2 Purchase order requisition X
3 Purchase order X
~ Purchase order cancellation X
5 Purchase order adjustment/carrection X
6 Allow vendor change to purchase order prior to printout X
7 Allow for automatic purchase order number assignment X
8 Allow for vendor master file data sorting based on any vendor
number field (e.g., sort on any digit of vendor number field) X
9 Provides drop down listing for identification of specific vendor X
10 bility to verify amount does not exceed line item budget. X
11 bility to establish fixed asset record, far transfer to Fixed
sset system, based on expenditure level criteria. X
12 bility to notify requesting department when PO items are
backordered. X
13 utomatic generation of purchase order after approval (can be
multiple pages). X
14 bility to establish parameters for requisitions requiring a PO
(i.e.-expenditure level and serial number) X
15 bility to group items by vendor for volume purchasing
ur ases. X
16 bility to carryforward purchase orders into new year. X
17 Purchase order register to provide a detailed audit trail of
purchase orders entered. X
18 Purchase order file data:
19 Purchase order number X
20 Vendor number X
21 Vendor invoice number (multiple for multiple shipments) X
22 Description X
23 Account numbers (multiple numbers) X
24 P.O. amount X
25 Status X
26 Outstanding P.O. amount X
27 Delivery date due (estimated at time of P.O.) X
28 Ordering department X
29 Department buyer X
30 Confirming approval person X
31 Confirmation date X
Orange County
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_ ~ Inte rnal Priori ties
32 Line item dollars (unit and extension) X
33 Due date X
34 Total purchase order dollars X
35 Multiple ship to addresses (minimum 10) X
36 Vendor part number X
37 Vendor part description X
38 bility to tie multiple shipping invoices to one P.O. until P.O. is
ompletely satisfied. X
39 bility to prompt requisitioner about the inclusion of freight
har es. X
40 Allows vendors to electronically submit application for
registration as an approved vendor. X
41 Allows vendors to select mode for receiving future
solicitations -Email or fax X
42 Merge bidders list with text to produce solicitations X
43 Ability to identify approved minority vendors X
44 Apply commodity codes to bidder and vendor list files
(minimum 25 commodity codes per vendor) X
45 .Provide data fields to summarize information by commodity
code (total dollars, number of orders, number of vendors, X
number of bidders, etc.)
46 Allows for text and mail merge to produce RFP, RFQ
olicitation and notice. of awards X
47 Allows for RFP and bid solicitations to be automatically sent
o web addresses or faxed X
48 EDI capable X
49 bility to maintain a tickler file for recurring requisitions. X
50 bility to generate a report of purchase orders that are based
on distribution of account numbers (what department is X
harged) by either whole purchase order or by line item.
51 bility to process purchase orders for:
52 Standard purchase order with single or multi line items X
53 Terms contracts with single or multi line items and multi
payment schedules X
54 Blanket purchase order commodity purchases with
umerically controlled multiple releases and multiple location X
eleases
55 bility to save incomplete requisitions or purchase orders for
l
ater use. X
56 bility to notify requesting department when vendor requests
modification(s) to PO that exceed establishett dollar level. X
57 bility to identify last vendor and price for a part or product. X
58 bility to limit the authority for entering new vendors into
stem. X
59 bility for signer to provide comments. X
60 bility to interface to:
61 General ledger X
Orange County
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Internal Priorit ies
62 Accounts Payable X
63 Budgeting X
64 Has user-friendly query tool that allows for flexible report X
reafiion using all populated fields. .
65 bility to export reports to Excel. X
66 Purchasing vendor analysis reports:
67 Vendor performance (fill rate, complaints, number of
purchase orders, total dollars, number of commodities X
available, comparison to other vendors, pertormance per
commodi
68 Vendor responsiveness (lead time, delivery response;
bid/quotation response, salesperson call frequency, X
com etitiveness, etc.
69 Vendar history (above two poinfis summarized for last 5 years,
including names, addresses, phone numbers, total dollars, X
number of P.O.s, P.O. types, etc.)
Orange County
Needs Assessment Project
Page 37
Budgeting Overview:
The current budget process is heavily manual and is primarily performed using Microsoft Excel
spreadsheets and macros. The process is very limited in functionality and requires a tremendous
time commitment from all departments, especially the Budgeting department. Tt is critical that
any new system be fully integrated with other financial applications, specifically general ledger,
purchasing and accounts payable.
Inte rnal Prior ities
1 Capability to enerate a bud et re aration worksheet.
9 9 p p
2 Including Prior Five (5) Years Actual Revenue and
Expenditures. X
3 Including Current Year Budget and Actual Year-to-Date
mounts. X
4 Including Current Year Estimated Budget Savings and
Overrun. X
5 Including Space for Entering Next Year's Budget Amount, On-
line. X
6 Including Space for Entering Current Yew's Estimated
mounts for Months Remaining in the Fiscal Year, On-line. X
7 Including Space for Entering Each Month's Percentage of the
nnual Budget or Monthly Budget Amount. X
8 Ilows department level users on-line access for budget ~
creation, adjustment and query purposes. X
9 Capability to perform on-line file maintenance and inquiry
unctions of the budget information. X
10 Capability to pertorm on-line approval of budget entries and
hanges. X
11 Capability to allocate portions or percentages of budgets
between general ledger accounts. X
12 Capability to enter a description of each major item included in
he account budget and revise on an individual item basis. X
13 Capability to use the budget preparation worksheet as a
urnaround document to produce the final budget. X
14 apability to specify an annual percent or dollar amount budget
increase for specified or all accounts. X
15 Capability to generate initial budget estimates from multiple
ear history with different factors by department/account. X
16 Capability .to allocate budgets to months by portion, percentage
nd/or major budget item. X
17 Capability to allow individual departments to enter initial budget
information. X
18 Capability to mass enter data for both revenue and expenditure
'expense" accounts by account. X
19 Capability to establish new revenue and expenditure "expense"
ccounts on-line, which will transfer to the general ledger
ystem when the budget is transferred to the general ledger. X
Orange County
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Inter nal Prior ities
20 Provides the ability to prepare revenue forecasts based on
user-defined parameters and other methods for revenue - X
orecastin .
21 Capability to allow entry and maintenance of non-financial X
information by department/cost center.
22 Capability to pertorm forecasting and modeling to perform
'
' X
what-if
analysis.
23 Capability to generate the budget preparation worksheet by X
und, cost center, or department.
24 Capability to print alpha and numeric information related to X
ctual and budgeted amounts for each budget account.
25 apability to generate a final budget report.
26 Including Detail by Account of the Approved Final Budget. X
27 Including the Option to Print By Month or the tntire Year. X
28 Capability to reprint previous budget preparation worksheet. X
29 Capability to generate reports by fund, by cost center, and by X
major line item.
30 upparts budget preparation at the fund, division, project, X
rant, and object levels.
31 Provides a complete audit trail of any budget adjustments and
upporting explanation made during the fiscal year to the final
dopted budget, showing at least:
32 Accounts affected X
33 Date of revision X
34 Operator ID X
35 Old balance X -
36 New balance X
37 Net Change X
3$ Authorization by user ID X
39 Supports preparing annual budgets at the lowest level of detail X
and consolidate to a summarized fund level.
40 Provides the ability to establish and monitor quantifiable
performance measures. X
41 Supports the ability to attach to each account documentation,
notes, and other supporting information for each account,
including:
42 Word Documents X
43 Excel S readsheets X
44 Excel Charts - X
45 Provides the ability to store multiple versions of the budget per
scal year with user-defined names ("requested", "proposed", X
'adopted", etc.).
46 bility to perform "what-il" calculations applying percentage
increase/decrease to a user defined range of accounts. (Le., a X
increase of all supply accounts, 2% increase for salary
accounts, 10% increase for fringe benefit accounts, etc.)
Orange County
Needs Assessment Project
Page 39
Inte rnal Prior ities
47 Provides the ability to prepare revenue forecasts based on
user-defined parameters and other methods for revenue X
recastin .
48 Five year capital budgets can be created as separate and
istinct from all other budgets. X
49 he system must allow five years of budgeting data to be
maintained on-line. X
50 ssist in preparing annual management information reports:
51 Pro ram Goals, Ob'ectives, and Measures X
52 Ex enditure Justification X
53 Personnel Schedule Summa and Detail X
54 Total bud et re uest ex enditure summa X
55 Revenue estimates X
56 Ex lanation of variances X
57 he system highlights any budgeted amounts exceeding
X
defined ercenta a or amount. .
58 Fully integrated with the general ledger module allowing for
xchange of expenditure data from the general ledger to the
budgeting module and transfer of adopted budget information X
o the general ledger.
59 Provides ability to maintain multiple chart of accounts in
budgeting and general ledger X
Orange County
Needs Assessment Project
Page X40
Personnel Overview:
The current personnel application is very limited in employee tracking functionality. All aspects
of an employee's employment including position changes, .benefit options, and termination
information should be stored far easy access and querying. Any new system should provide the
capability for departments/employees to gain secured access to appropriate personnel records far
on-line maintenance and inquiry. .
Inter nal Priori ties
1 Capability to automatically receive attendance and pay
information directly from the payroll processing system using X
n automated intertace.
2 Capability to interFace with the payroll processing system to
liminate the need far file maintenahce on the employee's X
account to be pertormed in two systems.
3 Capability to direct reports to selected printers at the time the
X
report is created.
4 Capability to request reports to be displayed on the user's X
erminal rather than being printed.
5 Capability to store employee type (full-time or part-time, and X
ermanent or tem ora
6 Capability to store Human Resources information for auser- X
efined period of time. -
7 Capability to track positions, including: time-limited and grant- X
unded.
8 apability to store employee salary history for a user. specified X
period after the employee ends employment.
9 Capability to store employment history by employee for a user X
defined period.
10 Capability to store: Maximum hours allowed to wank X
11 Capability to store an unlimited number of comments regarding
he employee including comment date, comment source and X
expiration date.
12 Capability to create tickler notices for Human Resources X
ctions regarding an employee.
13 upport attendance tracking system, including capability to
monitor absentee, tardy and pay rate changes and scheduling. X
14 Capability to utilize a skills inventory description file including X
kills codes and descriptions.
15 apability to track an unlimited number of skills per employee. X
16 Capability to utilize a job hazards file to identify hazardous X
onditions and materials handling requirements.
17 Capability to track employee education information including X
ears of education completed.
18 Capability to track employee education information including X
degrees obtained.
Orange County
Needs Assessment Project
Page 41
Inte rnal Prior ities
19 apability to track employee certifications obtained. X
20 Capability to utilize a benefit plan file to track employee benefit -
plans including the code and code description. X
21 Capability to use a testing descriptions file to identify
standardized employee tests and codes. X
22 apability to provide on-line open position listings. X
23 Capabilities to allow employees to respond to the on-line open
position list through electronic mail. X
24 apability to generate and view reports on-line. X
25 Capability to store the Employee name (first, middle, last) X
26 Capability to store the Employee Number X
27 apability to store the Employee Social Security Number. X
28 Capability to store a user defned employee identification
number other than those previously listed in this section. X
29 Capability to track employee use of vehicles as benefits. X
30 Capability to store employee Birth Date X
31 Capability to store the Marital status code, (Example:
Married/Sing le/Divorced). X
32 Capability to store aMale/Female code X
33 Capability to store the Race Identification Code within the
Human Resources System. X
34 Capability to store Handicap Codes with descriptions. X
35 Capability to store the Handicap Codes with job limitations. X
36 Capability to store the Work telephone number. X
37 Capability to store the Work telephone extension number. X
38 Capability to store the work a-mail address. X
39 Capability to store and maintain cellular telephone numbers. X
40 Capability to store the home telephone number. X
41 Capability to store the Home address including two lines of
treet/apartment addresses. X
42 apability to store the Home city name. X
43 Capability to store the Home state name. X
44 apability to store the employee Home postal codes. X
45 Capability to store the date of employee hire. X
4fi Capability to store the date of employee re-hire. X
47 apability to store the date of employee leave of absence
starting and anticipated ending dates and the reason for X
bsence.
48 Capability to store employee maternity leave starting and
nding dates. - X
49 apability to store the employee re-hire reason code. X
50 apability to store the longest period of continuous service,
riginal hiring period or re-hire period. X
51 apability to store the employee seniority. X
52 Capability to store the source of the employee (newspaper ad,
agency, etc.). X
Orange County
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Page 42
53 Capability to store employee suggestions and actions on-line: Inter nal Priori ties
X
54 Capability to store employee awards given through employee
uggestion programs. X
55 Capability to store employee training information including
lasses attended and dates. X
56 apability to store desired future training by employee. X
57 Capability to store scheduled employee training dates including.
ates and course descriptions. X
58 Capability to generate an employee scheduled training date
report based on user selected future date ranges. X
59 Capability to generate an electronic mail scheduled training
reminder notice to the employee within a user determined date
range.
X
60 Capability to identify employees lacking prerequisites for
esired training programs. X
61 Capability to track the cost of employee training. X
62 Capability to create user defined letters to employees for class
confirmations, prerequisites and cancellations. X
63 Capability to track training classroom availability on-line. X
64 Capability to file and store employee review information on-line. X
65 Capability to maintain full employee review forms on-line. X
66 Capability to automatically update employee records based on
he on-line performance review information. X
67 Capability to store the date of last employee review. X
68 Capability to store the employee review rating. code. X
69 Capability to store the next employee pertormance review date. X
70 Capability to store the next employee salary review date. X
71 Capability to store the date of last pay change. X
72 Capability to store the amount of the last pay change in dollars. X
73 apability to store the percentage increase.amount of the last
pay change. X
74 Capability to store the reason for last employee pay change. X
75 Capability to store the next employee salary review date. X
76 Capability to store the employee salary rate. X
77 Capability to stare the Unit of pay (hours, week, month, etc.) X
78 Capability to store the normal pay period work hours. X
79 apability to stare the salary payment frequency. X
80 Capability to store the standard pay per hour (or salary unit). X
81 apability to store the employee work shift code (example: day,
night, etc.). X
82 Capability to store the work shift premium pay. X
83 Capability to store the job code. X
84 Capability to stare the employee job seniority date. X
Orange County
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Page 43
Inte rnal Prior ities
85 apability to store the employee job title. X
86 apability to store the employee salary grade code. X
87 Capability to store the Overtime exemption code. X
88 Capability to store the salary or hourly pay code. X
89 Capability to store the employee supervisors employee
number. X
90 Capability to store the employee supervisor's name. X
91 Capability to store the department code. X
92 Capability to store the terminated employees with continued
benefits code. X
93 Capability to store the employee termination date. X
94 Capability to store the employee termination type code
(example: retirement, layoff, discharged). X
95 Capability to store the termination reason code. X
96 Capability to store the number of employee dependents. X
97 Capability to store the number of insured employee
ependents. X
98 Capability to store the date employee benefits expiration date. X
99 Capability to calculate costs of proposed cost-of-living
djustments. X
100 Capability to calculate employee benefits deduction based on
mployee requested benefits (example: cafeteria plan). X
101 Capability to establish flexible employee salary deduction
pending plans. X
102 Capability to establish before tax employee deduction plans. X
103 Capability to establish after-tax employee spending plans. X
104 apability to track flexible employee spending plans and payrol
deductions. X
105 Capability to track disciplinary actions against the employee. X
106 Capability to track employee honors and awards. X
107 Capability to track employee references and reference checks
. X
108 Capability to specify standard reports to be sorted by:
Department code. X
109 Capability to specify standard reports to be sorted by:
Employee identification number. X
110 Capability to specify standard reports to be sorted by: Job
unction. X
111 apability to specify standard reports to be sorted by: Name
Iphabetical order. X
112 Capability to generate the following reports: personnel reports. X
113 Capability to generate the following reports: employee benefits X
r eports.
114 Capability to generate employee sick leave taken reports. X
115 Capability to generate employee sick leave remaining reports. X
Orange County
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Page 44
Inter nal Priori ties
116. Capability to generate employee vacation days available X
reports. -
117 . Capability to generate employee vacation days taken report. X
118 Capability to generate employee vacation days carried over. X
rom previous year(s) reports.
119 Capability to automatically update employee address X
i nformation through employee electronic mail responses.
120 Capability to generate the following reports: Benefit Coverage X
by Employee
121 Capability to generate billing statements for terminated
employees that continue to receive benefits through insurance X
plans.
122 Capability to generate notification letters for terminated
employees that continue to receive benefits through insurance X
plans.
123 Capability to generate an employee dependent report X
124 Capability to generate Employee Benefits Statements X
125 Capability to generate staff compensation reports X
126 Capability to generate periodic employee review forms X
127 Capability to generate employee transaction reports (new hire, X
ermination, promotion, etc.)
128 Capability to generate perFormance'review past due reports X
based on user-defined past-due dates.
129 Capability to send an electronic mail message to the
mployee's supervisor when performance reports are past due X
based on user defined dates.
130 Capability to send electronic mail messages to the employee
upervisor when position change and personnel action X
requests are received.
131 Capability to generate a Salary Increase Analysis by Reason X
Code report.
132 Capability to generate a Terminated Employee Report by X
ermination reason code.
133 Capability to create. a-mail to the training department if an "
employee scheduled for a training class is terminated prior to X
completing the class.
134 Capability to generate the following reports: ,training data by X
employee, department, course or other user defined field.
135 Capability to maintain an employee termination checklist per X
mployee.
136 Capability to file employee termination checklist reports on-line. X
137 Capability to automatically update the terminated employee's X
ile through an on-line termination checklist form.
138 Capability to generate an employee telephone directory. X
grange County
Needs Assessment Project
Page 45
_ _ ~ Internal Prior ities
139 apability to generate an employee skill list by employee and
location. X
140 Capability to generate employee workers compensation reports
listing injured employees. X
141 Capability to generate an employee drug test results report. X
142 Capability to generate an employee periodic drug testing report
based on user-defined positions and testing frequencies. X
143 Capability to generate a report of employee emergency
contacts including contact telephone numbers. X
144 Capability to use a Report Writer developed specifically for the
Human Resources system. X
145 Capability to generate "what if' analyses such as the effect of .
rising health insurance costs on employee pay. X
146 Capability to transfer information directly from the Human
Resources database into PC spreadsheets without the need for
he user to manually load a file (real-time interFace to the PC X
program).
147 Capability to access both Human Resources and Payroll in the
same report using the report writer. X
148 Capability to generate letters through the report writer. X
149 Capability to store a copy of an applicant's resume and
pplication an-line using imaging technology. X
150 Capability to automatically create an applicant database using
information scanned from resumes and applications. X
151 Capability to receive faxed resumes and store images on-line. X
152 Capability to generate reports comparing open positions to
resumes stored in the database files. x
153 Capability to monitor interview and hiring status on-line. X
Orange County
Needs Assessment Project
Page 46
Fixed Assets Overview:
There currently is na fixed asset management application in use at the County. For asset security
and proper accountability, aformal system should be purchased to track both capitalized assets
and selected expenditures. The Government Accounting -'Standards Board (GASB) issued
Pronouncement #34 that requires all governments to formally account for all their infrastructure
assets. Fixed asset applications are often included. as a minor option for most general ledger
packages, and would provide an effective solution for this group of needs. .
Inter nal Priori ties
1 bility to track physical property and real property with the
X
utomatic calculation of depreciation expense.
2 bility to track designated expensed property by cost and X
l ocation.
3 Obtain and post additions to fixed assets as a result of X
accounts payable transactions.
4 ccounts payable postings automatically initiate a fixed asset
screen displaying useful life, depreciation method, and X
cquisition date.
5 utomatically prompts users to annotate asset when the asset X
is taken out service.
6 utomatically updates the permanent fixed asset record for. X
acquisition, transfer, sales, or dispositions.
7 upports depreciation expense calculations for designated X
items.
8 Supports user-defined account codes for. general ledger X
purposes.
9 utomatically assigns and tracks asset identification or,"tag," X
numbers. lag numbers also may be manually entered.
10 bility to calculate monthly depreciation expense, and
periodically update each master file using straight-line
X
depreciation schedules and activity status (active, fully
epreciated but still in use, nondepreciable; retired).
11 Fixed Asset Table supports the retention of fully depreciated X
sets for inventory control purposes prior to disposition.
12 Ilows for the transfer of assets between divisions and/or X
locations.
13 Supports user-defined classification schemes to code fixed X
sets according to type (i.e., desks, cars, etc.).
14 Maintains online information for each asset, including: X
15 Fund/General Ledger Account X
16 Asset Type X
17 Location X
18 Responsibility X
19 Division X
20 Grant or Project number X
21 Purchase Date X
22 Purchase Amount X
Drange County
Needs Assessment Project
Page 47
Inte rnal Prior ities
23 Current Value X
24 Cost/Capitalized Value X
25 Depreciation, Life-to-Date X
26 Depreciation, year-to-date X
27 Parent/Child Descriptions and Asset Numbers X
28 Purchase Order Number X
29 Acquisition Method (purchase/donated) X
30 Vendor Name and ID Number X
31 Description (brand, model, and manufacturer of asset) X
32 Check Number and Date X
33 Serial Number X
34 License Number X
35 Maintains on-line history of asset transactions, including: X
36 Location changes X
37 Financial account code changes X
38 Date of last depreciation adjustment X
39 ccommodates free-form descriptive text to describe each
axed asset which is electronically associated with the master X
ile.
40 bility to record and report asset replacement information,
including: X
41 Expected Useful Life (years, mileage, cycles, etc.) X
42 Date of Expected Replacement X
43 Current Asset Book Value X
44 Anticipated Asset Value at Time of Replacement X
45 bility to accommodate up to a 20-digit asset number. X
46 bility to accommodate parent/child relationships between
related assets, such as a master unit with one or more X
ccessories.
47 bility to determine depreciation schedule by property type. X
48 bility to record the useful life and the asset life in months. X
49 bility to change value for betterments which will automatically
djust the depreciation schedule. X
50 Disposition of fixed assets automatically post gains or losses to
he general ledger. X
51 Fixed Assets Detail and Summary lists by: X
52 -Department X
53 -Fund/General Ledger Account X
54 -Responsible Person X
55 -Asset Type X
56 -Locations X
57 -Associated Cost X
58 -Accumulated Depreciation X
59 Schedule of Current Years Depreciation associated with each
sset. X
Qrange County
Needs Assessment Project
Page 48
Inter nal Prior ities
6D Report with detail of depreciation expense by general ledger, X
number, location and asset type.
61 Report with detail of additions during auser-defined time period
by asset type, division, general ledger account or purchase X
amount.
62 Report with detail of retirements, transfers and changes during
user-defined time period by asset,type, division, general X
ledger account or purchase amount.
63 Report listing all assets of specific type, cost, accumulated X
depreciation and net book value.
64 Roll-forward of fixed assets by general ledger account number
howing beginning balance, additions, retirements, transfers, X
ther, and ending balance.
65 Roll-forward of accumulated depreciation by general ledger
ccount number showing beginning balance, current year
' X
tion, accumulated depreciation of items disposed,
eprecia
other, and ending balance.
66 Report listing dispositions for the year, including net book X
slue, cash, received and any gains or losses.
67 bility to.import and export fixed asset data to Excel. X
68 Controlled ability to interface with.the general ledger for X
updating and reporting.